A number of SWAT papers quantifying hydrological
and water quality responses to bioenergy crops were
published recently, three of which are briefly outlined
here. Parajuli and Duffy (2013) investigated implementation of four biofuels (corn, soybean, miscanthus and switchgrass) in the Town Creek
watershed (northeast Mississippi, USA) using
SWAT. The study showed that corn production
would produce the largest annual average sediment
yield, and producing a perennial grass would provide
the largest biomass stock with the least environmental impacts. Jager et al. (2014) focused on bioenergy
scenarios for the Arkansas-White-Red River basin
draining to the Mississippi River. It was concluded
that this region has subareas that are promising for
sustainable bioenergy production in terms of both
economic feasibility and water quality characteristics.
The study of Affuso and Duzy (2013) applied SWAT
combined with a stochastic model of farm management to assess the potential impact of biofuel production (corn) in terms of nitrogen loss in northern
Alabama, considering the El Niño Southern
Oscillation phases. It was shown that the expansion
of biofuel production would be accompanied by an
associated increase in nitrogen losses.